A lot depends on where you are. I have a Voda PCMCIA data card. It's ok where I generally use it - 3G signal about 3km away from the cell. I think it's 15 quid a month unlimited (though retail might be only 5gb). However I know a couple of people in similar positions who returned the dongle thing to Voda.

My old man uses 3 and gets a 3g signal where I can only just get a voda GPRS signal. Again I think they are 15 quid a month for 15gb now.

Make sure you can return it if it turns out pants where you want to be.

O2 - which I can't get - had an offering where they threw in unlimited BT openzone as well - so that may help in some areas.

I got a 3 contract with a free netbook after trying a vodafone dongle. It's briliant, we wanted a netbook anyway but it meant the LTD pays for broadband and we get a free netbook (ahem I mean, what netbook?).

Voda was poo unless you were next to a mast, yes it has theoretical top speed in the UK but in reality in both the outskirts of Manchester and inner city Glasgow where I need it, no signal frequently or sometimes GPRS, never got 3G.

Three on the other hand has been fantastic to the point where I can work on the train (a pendolino swishy fast one too) for about 2/3 of the journey.

When you log on to BT FON while you are out and about you will get up to 512kbp

I'm not on this, but would join like a shot if my next contract (if it ever materialises) is away from home, either UK or Europe. Use the broadband at home for any large file transfers or streaming, wi-fi for email and general browsing.

£15 for 15Gb a month looks good with 3. Can you run a home network through this? I have several PC's and a PS3 networked and typically use about 12 to 14Gb a month but my connection is only 512kb ADSL.